Gramophone-needle box.



Patented June 2, 19033 PATENT OFFICE. i

HOJRACE Sl-IEBLE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRAMOPHONE-NEEDLE BOX- SPCFICASTON forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,169, dated June 2, 19073.

Application filed [lune 28, 1902.

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Beit known that l, HORACE SHEBLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gramophone-Needle Boxes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to gramophoneneedle boxes, and has for its object the provision of a box or case of novel form adapted to contain new needles and old ones in separate compartments, so that the new needles may be easily and quickly picked out of the case and the old needles deposited therein and maintained in a separate compartment without danger of getting them mixed or of mistaking one kind for the other.

The needles used on gramophones and like instruments are minute objects, and being subjected to wear and damage must be re-A moved and replaced from time to time, and as it is desirable to preserve the old needlesit is necessary, in order to avoid the tedious and difficult operation of picking out a new needle from a mass of new and old ones mixed together, to keep them in separate receptacles, or at least in separate compartments in a single receptacle. If kept in boxes ordrawers having vertical sides and aiiat bottom, the needles, or some of them, will lodge in the angles of the box and prove aggravatingly hard to find and pick up.

In carrying` my invention into effect l pro- Vide a neat compact box made of two pieces of wood hinged together, one forming the body and the other thelid of the box, and I form in the body part a plurality of concave or semispherical or similarly-shaped cavities having concave bottoms, and I fit a dat disk with a central hole in a groove at the edge of one of said cavities, so that it will be flush with the upper surface of the body 'of the box, or nearly so. The lid of the box, which is a single flat piece, shuts down tightly on the body and completely closes the concave cavities and is secured in its closed position by a spring-catch and prevents the needles from falling out of the respective cavities in which they are contained. or becomingA mixed with the needles in the other cavity.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved needlebox with the lid open; Fig. 2, a longitudinal sectional View with the lid closed, and Fig. 3 a plan view with the lid open and the metallic disk which fits in one of the cavities removed.

Adesignates the body of the box, composed of a single rectangular block'having two oircular concave cavities B C out out of its upper surface. These cavities may be semispherical throughout or may ,have vertical sides and concave bottoms, but in all cases the concave bottoms should join the sides without forming a preceptible angle, so as to prevent the lodgment of needles at the point of juncture.

The cavity C has a shallow groove c outv around its upper edge, in which is seated a circular disk D, having a central hole d, andv this cavity is intended for the reception of old needles, which are dropped through the hole in the disk. The disk D fits tightly enough in the groove c to prevent its accidental displacement; but the disk may be removed when desired by inserting a finger in the hold d and lifting the disk from its seat.

The new needles are kept in the cavity B, and the concave bottom of the cavity causes the needles to gravitate toward `the center of the bottom of the cavity, from which they may be easily picked up by the fingers or a pair of tweezers. The concave bottom of the cavity greatly facilitates the picking out and removal of the needles and obviates the annoyance and delay consequent on attempting to pick up needles from a box having corners or sharp angles.

E designates the lid of the box, which is attached to the body A by hinges e e, and when closed is held in that position by aspringcatch F on the lid, which engages a pin f on the body A. n

The lid E has a fiat under side, which when the lid is closed fits snugly on the iiat top of the body of the box and completely closes the cavities B and C and prevents the needles in each cavity from falling out or from becoming mixed with the needles in the other cavity.

When an old needle is to be disposed of, it

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is simply dropped through the hole (Z in the disk I), and when desired the accumulation of old needles can be removed from the cavity by lifting' out the disk, as before described, the concave bottom of the cavity C serving in the same manner as the concave bottom of cavity B in facilitating the handling of the needles.

The box and its lid may be made of any suitable material, but I prefer to make them of Wood, and While I have designed it particularly as a box to hold the needles of gramophones and similar instruments it can be used to advantage to contain other small articles, objects, tools, the.

Having described my invention, I claiml. A `gramophone-needle box composed of a block having separate cavities for the reception of old and new needles, a lid adapted to close both cavities and a disk covering' one of said cavities and having a hole in its center, whereby one cavity is left uncovercdwhen the lid is opened, substantially as described. 2. In a gramophone-needle box, the combination with the body of the box, composed of a single block of Wood havin g two concave cavities in its upper surface, one of said cavities being formed with a grooved edge, of a disk iitted in said groove and formed with a central hole and a lid hinged to the body of thebox and adapted to tightly close both cavities, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof Irhave aiiixed my sg nature in presence of two witnesses.

II ORAGE SIIEBLE. Vitn Il. B. GIRHENS, Jr., Manin E. DoNIGAN. 

